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A spokeswoman for the royals said: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a male cocker spaniel.

“It’s from a litter known to the couple through a family connection. It’s a few months old.”

Prince William will fly to the Falkland Islands tonight to begin his tour of duty as tensions rise between Britain and Argentina over sovereignty.

Yesterday it emerged that one of the Royal Navy's most advanced new warships is being sent to the area.

HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, is due to set sail for the South Atlantic on her maiden mission in the coming months to replace frigate HMS Montrose.

Today it was confirmed that the Duke of Cambridge will begin his six-week deployment as a helicopter pilot earlier than expected. He will fly out from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, tonight.

He will be crewing one of two search-and-rescue helicopters on call 24 hours a day for missions flying out of a large British military base, 45 minutes from Stanley, the islands' capital.

Argentina's foreign ministry slammed Prince William's visit, saying that the heir to the British throne would be arriving as a "conqueror."

However, the Ministry of Defence stressed that the mission was routine and a Royal Navy spokesman rejected suggestions the decision to send the ultra-modern destroyer to the region represented an escalation of the UK's position.

Kate, who turned 30 last month, is understood to have been debating with courtiers whether to use Prince William’s absence abroad to launch herself as a solo member of the Royal family.

Since the royal wedding she has only attended one public engagement without him. That was when the Prince of Wales was forced to pull out of a charity dinner at Clarence House in October last year because he had to fly to Riyadh to pay his condolences to the Saudi royal family after the death of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. His daughter-in-law agreed to attend in his place.